And since our landlord had a NO DOG POLICY, there was one other thing I was too scared to think about.
If we couldn’t find Professor Reese, I wouldn’t have Baxter, either.
21For Emergencies Only!
Me, TJ, and Baxter slumped in the yard, trying to figure out what to do. “Maybe we should ask Mom and Dad to help us,” TJ said.
He had a point. But when I told him all the reasons why I didn’t think we could convince the detective, I realized that we probably couldn’t convince Mom and Dad, either. “And if we teleport the hat to try and prove it, and Mom sees the teleporter vibrating like crazy and then the big POP, there’s no way she’s going to let us back in the lab—she’ll say it’s too dangerous.”
“Yeah.” TJ nodded.
“Besides, if the detective can’t find Professor Reese, and we can’t find her, then I don’t know what Mom and Dad could do,” I said. “Then we won’t be able to get into the lab anymore, and we still won’t have found her.”
I didn’t know if that was the right answer or not. I patted Baxter’s ribs and thought some more. “I still feel like we can figure out where she is.”
“Maybe . . .” TJ said. “I just wish she had a cell phone. Then she could call us.”
“Me too.” I lay back in the grass, and Baxter plunked down next to me.
Suddenly, I sat up. “Wait a minute! We could teleport a phone to her! ’Cause even though we don’t know where we’re sending it, it will land where she is!”
“Yeah!” TJ said. Then he frowned. “But we don’t have a cell phone.”
“Yes, we do!” I jumped up. “I’ll be right back!”
I ran to our house and opened the front door. I could hear Mom in the kitchen, starting to cook. I sneaky quiet opened the drawer in the living room where she kept the cell phone she made me or TJ take to school when we had a field trip, in case there was an emergency.
I slipped it into my pocket and ran back outside. But when I showed it to TJ, his eyes got big.
“Jordie, we’re not supposed to play with it! It’s for emergencies only!”
“This is an emergency!”
I ran into Professor Reese’s house and down to the lab. TJ and Baxter followed me.
I tore a sheet of paper off Professor Reese’s notebook and wrote, “Call Jordie and TJ!” And I added our home phone number in case she couldn’t remember it.
We opened up the lid to the teleporter and put the phone and the note in. Then I thought, Wait!
I hurried up the stairs. Baxter hurried with me.
“Where are you going?” TJ asked.
“She might be hungry. And thirsty,” I yelled as I ran into the kitchen and grabbed a big bottle of water from the cupboard and two apples off the counter. “And bored!” I added as I grabbed a crossword she hadn’t finished and a pen from the kitchen table.
Me and Baxter ran back downstairs, and I dumped it all in the teleporter, too. “Ready?”
TJ nodded.
So we clicked the teleporter closed, and all the equipment sprang to life—the buzzing and vibrating and then the big POP! Then I gave Baxter a big kiss, and me and TJ ran home.
Mom was still in the kitchen making dinner. I put my finger up to my lips to shush TJ, and we crowded around the phone in the living room, waiting for it to ring.
We waited.
And waited.
TJ slapped his forehead. “We could call her.”
“Right!”
So TJ dialed the cell phone number, and I stuck my ear beside his so I could hear her answer, too.
But there wasn’t any sound of the phone ringing on the other end. There was only static.
TJ’s eyes got big. “We broke the phone!” he whispered. “Mom’s going to kill us!”
“It’s probably some electromagnetic thing.” At least I hoped so because I didn’t know how many allowances it would take to buy a new one. “Professor Reese will fix it.”
He shook his head. “If we find her.”
I grabbed his arm. “When we find her.” And I decided what to do. “We are going to keep looking until Professor Reese’s daughter gets here on Sunday. And if we haven’t found Professor Reese by then, we’ll tell her. ’Cause she’ll believe us even though we can’t prove it.”
“Yeah! She’s probably used to her mom doing crazy stuff!” TJ looked happy for the first time all afternoon. “OK!” He headed for his room.
“Where are you going?”
“To work on my short. It’s almost dinnertime.” Which TJ kept track of no matter what we were in the middle of because he’s always hungry.
I suddenly realized I was starving, and my half of Baxter was probably hungry, too. I poked my head into the kitchen and told Mom that I had to feed Baxter because Professor Reese wasn’t home yet. “It’s a great opportunity to be dependable.” Then I hurried over.
Baxter didn’t meet me at the back door. I had to go all the way down to the lab to find him.
As soon as he saw me, Baxter ran over, reared up on his hind legs, and plopped his big front paws on my shoulders. We were eye to eye, then, and Baxter started to whine.
Maybe my half of Baxter was hungry, but it seemed like Professor Reese’s half was trying to tell me something. “It’s OK, Baxter.” I nodded. “I’m listening.”
He nodded back.
Baxter dropped his front paws back to the floor and ran over to the map of Portland. He parked himself down right in front of it. His crazy silver eyebrows went up and down as he looked at me and then the map and then me again. His black lips hung open, panting.
I walked over to the map and leaned in for a better look. “What are
